He smiled for the first time in two days. “You remembered my nickname.”
She ruffled his hair, and he didn’t flinch.
It was a start.
“Moms remember everything.”
“Do they?” he asked, as she led him downstairs. “I’ve never really had one.”
It looked like that was changing.
He did now.
“This one never forgets.”
And it was true.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Well, they found him.
There was a part of that, which was terrifying and a part that was cathartic.
The game was in play.
Now it would continue on, and before long, the other one would pay too.
They would suffer for what they’d done.
It was time to make them bleed. One had, and the other…it was coming.
Before the night was out, there would be one more body bag in the morgue, and the world would be a much better place.
Well, for some.
For the rest, ‘Sin City’ would swallow them alive.
And that was the best plan yet.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
He waited for her outside in the limo. While he wasn’t happy about the argument between them, Greyson was willing to bury the hatchet. He didn’t want to fight with his wife.
Not today.
Not tonight.
The rest of the family took the other limo, and he was hoping that she wasn’t going to stand him up.
That would suck.
And crush his ego.
When he saw her coming his way, out the front doors of their home, she stole his breath.
Emma always would, even though she was angry with him. She’d picked a cream-colored dress that hugged her body. It was cut to her knees, and she looked like his queen.
Greyson’s heart ached.
He had to fix this.
Taking the box out of his pocket, he placed it on the seat where she’d sit—or hoped she’d sit.
At this point, she might ride up front with the driver to keep her distance.
And he couldn’t blame her.
He was going to eat some crow, and it was well deserved. His wife had a point, and Chris helped him with the rest.
When the driver helped her into the vehicle, she took a seat across from him.
His heart sank.
“Emma.”
“Stop. I need you to listen to me.”
He did what she asked.
“I need you to trust me, but I need to trust you too. I know you want to hide me from Thomas Christ, but you can’t, Greyson. If you do that, they’ve won. We are stronger than they will ever be, and we can beat them. I’ve known I was on the winning side from the start.”
He opened his mouth, and she stopped him.
AGAIN.
“I love you. I will die loving you, but we made a career switch after our badges were gone. We promised to fight for justice when it eluded people. We’re doing that. We have to help Tiffany Harding. She lost her husband, and four kids lost their dad.”
He saw it mattered to her.
“Okay. We can do it.”
He caught her off guard.
Who was this man?
“What?”
“I was mad. I’m over it. If you need this, then I’m okay with it.”
She stared at him. “So you’re not pissed?”
“I am angry that you ditched me tonight when I picked out a present for you, but I’ll get over that too.”
She dented his ego.
“I’m sorry, Grey.”
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
“I just need to know one thing, Emma. Did he ever matter to you? I need to ask, even if I don’t want to hear it.”
She knew who he was talking about.
It was crystal clear.
“He didn’t matter enough, Greyson. I never had love until I found you.”
That helped a little.
She continued, “He was a cop, and I was a cop. We dated for a couple weeks.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
“Yes.”
His heart ached.
“I see.”
“He was Gage’s friend. They worked together. They were both in vice, and then one day, my brother told me to ditch him. He was trouble.”
“And you did?”
“Yes, I did. He was taking bribes and being a piss poor example of being a cop.”
He listened.
“We went our separate ways.”
“Then?”
“My brother died, and I left. I never looked back, because I fell in love with a Fed who wouldn’t be some bribe-taking scumbag.”
He felt his heart lightening.
“I fell in love with a caveman, and he’s a pain in my ass more times than not.”
He laughed.
“Kitten, that’s not really a compliment. I think you can do better than that.”
She smiled.
“I fell in love with a sterling man who made me see that we fight no matter what the odds. I fell in love with Captain Greyson Thaddeus Croft, and he’s my hero.”
She knew how to soothe his worries.
The weight on his shoulders was a million times lighter than it was minutes ago.
“I fell in love with you too.”
“So, I’m going to give you a gift, Greyson.”
“You already have,” he said, holding out his hand so she’d come sit beside him.
“If you don’t want me to help Tiffany Harding, I won’t. I’ll tell her we can’t help.”
“Really?”
“If Thomas Christ worries you this much, then, yes. I don’t want to, but like I asked Sam to trust us, I have to trust you. You’re my partner.”
Greyson thought about it.
He could let Vegas pull him under or he could trust in his wife. If this was important, and her gut said do it, he was going to do it.
“He worries me, but we can handle it together.”
She relaxed and slid into his lap. “Thank you, Greyson. I appreciate your trust in me. Something is off with this case.”
Yeah, he was well aware.
Only he wasn’t sure what.
Emma kissed him, and he forgot what he was thinking before the lip lock.
His arms went around her waist as he held her locked to his body. There was so much tension in both of them.
What he wanted was to hold on forever, protecting his wife with all he had.
He’d have to trust his team.
“Mmmm, Greyson Croft, that was a really great kiss,” she said, wiping the smudge of lipstick off of his lower lip.
“I happen to agree.”
“There’s one other thing.”
“What?” he asked, as his body began coming to life beneath him.
“We need to adopt Sam. I know you wanted a child of your own, and I know he’s not really yours, but everyone who has been put into our life has been ours. We need him as much as he needs us.”
He stared at her.
“Grey?”
“Open the gift,” he stated.
She picked up the box and flipped the lid open. Inside, there sat a locket.
She was confused. This wasn’t her normal kind of gift. Greyson went with out of control and over the top baubles meant to catch her breath.
This was subtle.
Then again, she had just accused him of draping her in baubles to show ownership.
“Open it,” he stated.
Inside, there were three little pieces of paper.
Slowly, and with delicate fingers, she began opening them.
The first said Curtis.
“He was our first child.”
She stared at him. “Greyson.”
“Go ahead, Emma, my sweet. Open the rest of them,” he stated.
She did.
On the second one was Sam’s name.
“That should answer your question. We can adopt him. I planned on it.”
Her eyes were filled with tears.
“Go ahead.”
She opened the third.
Inside, it simply said, ‘our new baby’.
She kissed him.
This gift was precious to Emma.
In fact, this was probably her most favorite present he’d ever given her.
It had meaning.
It was bought in love.
It would, like their love, stand the test of time.
Whether he knew it, or not, her husband had hit this one out of the park. In that moment, this was exactly what she needed to read.
How could she ever doubt this man?
Emma was a fool.
He wasn’t trying to own her. He was trying to make them a world of their own.
When they slowly broke apart, he smiled at her. “Flip it over.”
She did.
And it made her cry.
‘Our Mom.’
“You can have the family you want, Emma Croft. The day we got married, we took on the world, and I’m ready to take on a houseful of people or kids.”
She ran her fingers down his cheek. The scar was always a reminder of what could have been.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Want to do it fast before we get to the gallery?” she asked. “If we have time?”
He grinned wickedly before rolling the window down that accessed the driver.
“Paul, take the long way. I need some time.”
Then with that he rolled it up, locked it, and took his wife.
Because like it or not, she belonged to him.
Chapter Sixteen
T hey found a drive-in and got settled in to enjoy some scary movie about a bunch of teens trapped in the woods. While it wasn’t exactly first date material, he’d let Natasha pick. It turned out that she was a slasher flick fan too.
Well, that was perfect, and for so many reasons. He’d be at her side, and maybe she’d end up in his lap. With any luck, that was the case. He couldn’t believe he was saying this, but hopefully, she was scared shitless by her movie choice.
Chris parked the truck and left her alone to get some things from the snack bar. When he returned, she was sitting in the middle seat, close to where he’d be.
It made his heart skip.
“What?” she asked.
“You let your hair down.”
Natasha touched it. “Is that okay?”
“Yeah, it’s absolutely gorgeous. I love that color red. I find myself wanting to touch it all the time.”
She smiled at him.
“I wouldn’t mind.”
Her candid answer caught him off guard. “Uh...”
It made her laugh.
“The movie is about to start,” he said, as the radio in his vehicle came to life.
Saved by the flick.
“Great! What did you get?” she asked.
Chris hopped in, and set up their snacks. “I hope I covered everything,” he said, as he pulled candy from his back pockets, his front pockets, and out of the popcorn bags.
Natasha was already crazy in love, and how could she not be? He was a genuinely good man.
She laughed. “You covered enough stuff for five people. I think we’re good.”
Chris listened to the credits begin to start, and he was finding it hard to breathe. Natasha was right next to him, and he really wanted to find himself lost in her.
She was simply amazing.
It boggled his mind why she wanted to be with him.
“Do you do this often?” he asked.
“Movies?”
“Yeah.”
“I watch them at my place. I don’t go out.”
“Why not?” Chris asked, popping some buttery popcorn in his mouth.
“No one’s ever asked me to.”
Chris was having a hard time believing that. “Really? No one asks you out? How is that possible?”
“Nope.”
“Are all the men you’ve come across idiots?”
“Dimitri.”
That was all she had to say.
That he got.
The man guarded his sisters like the Royal Guard watched the Queen. It wasn’t shocking that no one could get near her.
Chris was eternally grateful for Dimitri and his over the top possessiveness of his sisters. It meant he had a shot with the beautiful woman beside him.
“I would have asked you out even if Dimitri had said no,” he admitted. “I would have found a way.”
She stared at him with her aqua eyes in the darkness of the truck. “That’s because you’re special and the one.”
When she said stuff like that, it made his heart skip. Natasha had told him a couple times that she loved him and they were meant to be.
It terrified him.
It also gave him a warm fuzzy feeling.
Chris was torn.
Natasha leaned over and left a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for this,” she stated.
“You don’t mind not going to the gallery?” he asked. “You spent all this time getting into this pretty dress. I feel bad.”
She dropped her head onto his shoulder as they both stared ahead.
Neither were watching the movie.
Maybe this was the prelude to something bigger than a date night. Natasha kept her fingers crossed.
Chris liked the way she felt against his body. He began thinking about the couple times she’d spent sleeping beside him. His big body dwarfed hers but it felt so right.
He wanted to hold her.
“May I put my arm around you?”
She smiled. “I’d like that a lot, Christopher.”
He did, and she cuddled into his torso. When her hand went to his lap, Chris’s whole body rippled.
Yeah, he was definitely not focused on the movie. This was going to be damn hard to concentrate on now that she was pressed to his side.
What had he been thinking?
When Chris looked down at her, he was given a really great shot of her spectacular chest.
Christ!
He was being a perv and the date was only starting. It was going to be a really long night.
When her hand started drawing patterns on his thigh, his dick got hard.
Natasha was inches from his erection, and Chris was praying she’d lose track of where she was playing and head North.
He’d never wanted anything more in his life.
This woman tied him up in knots and made him stupid.
Chris was a man on the edge.
“I can’t do this.”
She looked up at him. “What?”
“I have to kiss you.”
She smiled. “Is this where the making out part starts? I’ve been looking forward to it all night.”
His heart thumped.
“Yeah, baby, this is where it begins.”
He lifted her chin to stare into her eyes. “I’ve waited too long,” he admitted, right before his mouth found hers. The kiss was so heated, that both of them ended up moaning before their lips broke the kiss.
“That was really amazing,” she said.
Chris could barely breathe.
When Natasha climbed between him and the steering wheel, he was thinking two things.
Hallelujah.
And thank God, the windows were tinted dark.
Natasha kissed him like she was never going to get a second chance. She wanted this man like nothing before in her life. He was the only man she’d ever felt this for, and God knew she’d come across plenty of men who wanted her.
Until now, she never got it.
Now she did.
This is what Kat felt for Curtis.
What Emma felt for Greyson.
What Dante felt for Steele.
She finally understood that heat that boiled blood, making them beyond needy. She was now part of that club.
She wanted this m
an because of what he could do to her, in life, in her heart, and most definitely in bed.
This was right.
Natasha always went by her gut, and she knew from the beginning that Christopher Ford was the one. She could see it in his beautiful eyes.
“Natasha,” he muttered into the lip lock.
She released his mouth, his bottom lip still caught between her teeth. His hair stood in chaotic peaks from where her hands had roamed.
“I’ve been waiting for this,” she whispered back. “Please tell me there’s more, Captain.”
He laughed. “Oh, there’s more, just not here.”
He heard her disappointed sigh.
“I’m not going to have sex in my truck. That’s tacky. I’m redneck, but not that redneck. You take a lady some place nice.”
“The house?” she asked, as his erection throbbed against her thigh. He was hard, big, and she wanted to experience everything this man had to offer.
There was no way in hell he was taking Natasha to Terrace Glen.
Why?
Dimitri was there.
Yeah, no.
He wasn’t an idiot.
“My place.”
She teased his ear with her teeth.
He moaned.
“Want to go back to my place? We can be alone.”
Chris was putting it out there.
If Natasha turned him down, there was no way he’d bounce back from this. She was his last shot at a doomed bachelorhood.
She kissed him again, rubbing against him.
When she set his mouth free, Natasha stared into his eyes. “What do you think?”
“Yes?” he guessed.
It made her laugh. “It’s a definite, yes, Captain. Let’s go back to your place and get out of these stuffy outfits.”
“I have something you’d look amazing in,” Chris said, as she climbed out of his lap so he could get them the hell out of there as fast as possible.
“What?” she asked, buckling in.
“My bed.”
Natasha ran her fingers down his arm. “Then get me to your bed.”
He couldn’t believe that cheesy line worked. She must really want him to even tolerate that.
Who was he to judge?
He’d said it.
Lost Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 2) Page 29
